TEHRAN – Iranian police have recently busted a gang of illegal excavators in a historical site in Sarchehan county, southern Fars province, a provincial tourism official has said. 

Three illegal diggers were detained in this regard and surrendered to the judicial system for further investigation, IRNA quoted Farhang Zare as saying on Saturday. 

The ancient region of Fars also spelled Pars, or Persis, was the heart of the Achaemenian Empire (550–330 BC), which was founded by Cyrus the Great and had its capital at Pasargadae. Darius I the Great moved the capital to nearby Persepolis in the late 6th or early 5th century BC.

The capital city of Shiraz is home to some of the country’s most magnificent buildings and sights. Increasingly, it draws more and more foreign and domestic sightseers flocking into this provincial capital which was the literary capital of Persia during the Zand dynasty from 1751 to 1794.

ABU/MG